Where do you want to go?

The three returned to the courtyard. Chen Huan and the others were already waiting there. Seeing Pei Ling swagger back with his sister in his arms, Chen Huan was stunned. Once he reacted, his heart was filled with rage!

This brat was pushing his luck! He was only letting Chen Mei play along with him to refine the Soul Summoning Banner, yet he dared to lay hands on his sister in public!

Seeing Zhang Zhongqin give him a meaningful look, Chen Huan immediately calmed down.

"It's getting late," Zhang Zhongqin coughed and said, "You two should go rest first."

Upon hearing this, Pei Ling readily agreed. With Chen Mei in his arms, he walked towards his own lodging.

Chen Huan's face darkened, but he ultimately did not stop them. After the two left, he immediately asked, "What's going on?"

Zhang Zhongqin shook his head slightly and said, "This brat doesn't know anything yet!"

"He went to the market just to look around. When Chen Mei and I found him, he was still drinking tea, with no intention of escaping at all."

"And it was he who suggested returning to the City Lord's mansion."

"He's currently infatuated with your sister's beauty, dreaming that she fell in love with him at first sight and threw herself into his arms. This is extremely beneficial to our upcoming plan!"

"After all, sacrificing a corpse to blood-sacrifice the Soul Summoning Banner is worlds apart from sacrificing a vibrant cultivator who has endured the entire process of refining the Soul Summoning Banner!"

Hearing this, Chen Huan immediately understood Zhang Zhongqin's meaning.

Indeed, his Soul Summoning Banner was missing the final blood-sacrifice material.

If this material were a cultivator with complete essence, energy, and spirit, the effect would naturally be maximized! The Soul Summoning Banner refined then would undoubtedly be of excellent quality!

But if they killed Pei Ling now, the power of the refined Soul Summoning Banner would be greatly diminished!

This was also why they had tried so hard to gain his trust when they were on the Yin Corpse Cloud.

After all, once this brat knew their true intentions, he would undoubtedly resist with all his might.

Even if they managed to kill him, even if they only cut off an arm or a leg, it would still be a loss for the Soul Summoning Banner!

Yes, after waiting for so many years, they absolutely could not afford to fail at this final crucial moment!

Thinking of this, Chen Huan nodded slightly, tacitly agreeing to the plan. However, the thought of his sister being held by Pei Ling just now, wanting to resist but not daring to, made his heart boil with anger.

When the blood sacrifice happened tomorrow, he would definitely make that brat suffer all sorts of torture to quell his anger!

Therefore, Chen Huan said in a deep voice, "I've bought all the things. We'll take him into the mountains tomorrow!"

Huang Xian snorted, "It's all Xiao Tasha's lack of preparation! We had to resupply in Luoshan City at the last minute. This matter probably won't be hidden from City Lord Duanmu."

"It doesn't matter," Chen Huan said calmly. "City Lord Duanmu is known for being smooth with his words. Pei Ling has no special relationship with him, so he won't meddle."

The few of them discussed for a while longer before dispersing.

※※※

Meanwhile, in Pei Ling's residence.

"Pei, Junior Disciple Pei, it's getting late. I need to go back to my room to rest..." After being groped for a long time, Chen Mei finally found an opportunity. She broke free from Pei Ling's arm and quickly fled towards the door.

"Senior Sister Chen, don't go," Pei Ling feigned a plea to keep her there.

Bang!

The only response was the sound of Chen Mei slamming the door shut behind her.

Pei Ling sneered inwardly. He was now very certain that Chen Huan, Chen Mei, and the others definitely had ill intentions towards him!

Otherwise, not to mention Chen Huan, who was Chen Mei's brother and the leader of this group, the others were clearly closer to Chen Mei than to him. All of their cultivation levels were higher than Pei Ling's! Even Chen Mei herself had a cultivation level comparable to his.

Facing such disrespectful behavior from him, how could they have tolerated it until now?

If they didn't have ulterior motives, Pei Ling would have been taught a lesson by Chen Mei and Zhang Zhongqin, or even kicked out of the group, the moment he put his arm around Chen Mei's shoulder on the way back.

"I need to find a way to contact Wu Liu again tonight..." Pei Ling thought to himself, then ordered the maidservant to serve him tea and food.

A moment later, the maidservant who received the order walked in. Pei Ling casually glanced at her, and his eyes narrowed. He asked in a deep voice, "Wasn't it you serving me this morning?"

The maidservant lowered her head obediently and said cautiously, "Replying to the Immortal Master, this morning... this morning it was my sister who served you."

"Then why was it suddenly you?" Pei Ling asked. Seeing the maidservant nervously twisting her sash, he quickly reassured her, "I didn't mean you weren't good enough, I just wanted to know why the person suddenly changed?"

The maidservant held back a sob and knelt on the ground. "Replying to the Immortal Master, my sister... she didn't intentionally leak your whereabouts! The steward has already dragged my sister out for punishment. I beg the Immortal Master for mercy and not to take it out on my family! I beg the Immortal Master for mercy! I beg the Immortal Master for mercy!"

Looking at the maidservant prostrating herself and kowtowing desperately, Pei Ling frowned and said in a deep voice, "What exactly happened? I never told anyone I would blame your sister?"

Seeing that the maidservant was too timid to speak, Pei Ling said, "Explain it clearly, and perhaps I can speak to the steward and save your sister?"

"Replying to the Immortal Master, it was Immortal Master Chen and Miss Chen's orders." The maidservant hesitated before whispering, "They said that since you instructed my sister not to reveal your whereabouts, and she didn't obey, she deserved to die... That's why the steward..."

Pei Ling's face turned ashen. After a moment of silence, he asked, "After Senior Brother Chen and Senior Sister Chen returned, did they ask about my whereabouts?"

Seeing the maidservant nod, he continued, "Did your sister not tell them at first?"

"Yes..." the maidservant replied, tears in her eyes.

Pei Ling sighed inwardly. That maidservant wasn't punished for leaking his whereabouts at all!

On the contrary, it was likely because she had initially followed his instructions and refused to reveal his whereabouts that she was targeted.

When he had instructed the maidservant earlier, his main goal was to test Chen Huan and the others' true intentions. He hadn't expected that maidservant would actually keep his secret for him...

Thinking of this, Pei Ling said to the maidservant, "I understand. I will speak to the steward about this tomorrow. However, as you know, Senior Brother Chen and Senior Sister Chen are my fellow disciples. Punishing your sister was their order. If they find out I intervened to plead for her, it might not be appropriate. So, just pretend I didn't ask anything, and if your sister is released later, act as if nothing happened."

After the maidservant withdrew with profuse thanks, Pei Ling sat quietly for about an hour. Then he got up, specifically took out some non-essential items from his storage pouch, and scattered them in various corners of the room. He then messed up the bed and even lay down on it for a while.

By this time, the night was deep. Pei Ling figured it was about time, so he placed the Aversion to Life Saber, wrapped up tightly, by the head of the bed. Then, he gently pushed open the back window and leaped out!

Outside the back window was a rather large flower bed, followed by a path paved with gravel, and beyond that, several tall trees.

Pei Ling got out of the flower bed and, seeing no one around, immediately called out softly, "Miss Wu Liu, Miss Wu Liu..."

After waiting for a moment with no one appearing, Pei Ling frowned slightly. He then moved to another spot and continued to call softly, "Miss Wu Liu, I have something to discuss with Fairy Li, please come out and speak with me..."

Pei Ling dared not shout too loudly, but he called from behind his own small building all the way to the outside of two courtyards. Yet, Wu Liu still didn't appear. His heart sank. Was Wu Liu no longer here?!

Fairy Li's escape technique this time required him to learn it within seven days. Barring any accidents, this mission would take him more than seven days!

Under normal circumstances, shouldn't Wu Liu have stayed hidden, waiting for the seven-day period to expire before coming out to check on his cultivation results?

Or, would Wu Liu only appear if he peeled off Chen Mei's human skin?

"Junior Brother Pei, where are you going so late at night?" At this moment, an extremely icy voice suddenly sounded from behind Pei Ling.

Pei Ling turned his head back with a calm expression. He saw Huang Xian, looking like a withered leaf, lightly jumping down from the treetop not far away.

His landing was silent, and his face, shrouded in the shadows of the plants, revealed a hint of sinister gloom.

"Senior Brother Huang?" Pei Ling showed a hint of appropriate surprise, then said, "I dropped something very important. I might have left it on the road during the day, so I'm going to look for it."

Huang Xian stared intently into Pei Ling's eyes but couldn't find any flaws for a long time. After a pause, he suddenly asked, "Where's your saber? Why aren't you carrying it when you go out at night?"

"Why would I need to bring a saber to go find something?" Pei Ling retorted quickly.

Huang Xian nodded slightly, his vigilance easing somewhat. He then asked, "What did you drop? I'll help you look for it."

"It's a sachet, very old, but it's a memento from my birth mother, so I never take it off." Pei Ling replied casually.

He then roughly described the sachet's appearance, which was the same one he had stolen from a mortal during the day.

Huang Xian nodded again, then said, "How about this, you have to deal with the Flower Demon with Junior Sister Chen tomorrow. It's best to get a good rest tonight. Since I know what your sachet looks like, you should go back to sleep. I'll go look for it myself."